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TITLE 16ECONOMIC REGULATION
PART 1RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS
CHAPTER 3OIL AND GAS DIVISION
RULE §3.8Water Protection

  (42) Non-commercial fluid recycling pit--Pit used in conjunction with one or more oil or gas leases or units that is constructed, maintained, and operated by the operator of record of the lease or unit and is located on an existing commission-designated lease or drilling unit associated with a commission-issued drilling permit, or upon land leased or owned by the operator for the purposes of operation of a non-commercial disposal well operated pursuant to a permit issued under §3.9 of this title or a non-commercial injection well operated pursuant to a permit issued under §3.46 of this title, for the storage of fluid for the purpose of non-commercial fluid recycling or for the storage of treated fluid.

  (43) Recycle--To process and/or use or re-use oil and gas wastes as a product for which there is a legitimate commercial use and the actual use of the recyclable product. 'Recycle,' as defined in this subsection, does not include injection pursuant to a permit issued under §3.46 of this title.

  (44) Treated fluid-Fluid that has been treated using water treatment technologies to remove impurities such that the treated fluid can be reused or recycled. Treated fluid is not a waste but may become a waste if it is abandoned or disposed of rather than reused or recycled.

  (45) Recyclable product--A reusable material as defined in §4.204(12) of this title (relating to Definitions).

  (46) 100-year flood plain--An area that is inundated by a 100-year flood, which is a flood that has a one percent or greater chance of occurring in any given year, as determined from maps or other data from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), or, if not mapped by FEMA, from the United States Department of Agriculture soil maps.

  (47) Distilled water--Water that has been purified by being heated to a vapor form and then condensed into another container as liquid water that is essentially free of all solutes.

(b) No pollution. No person conducting activities subject to regulation by the commission may cause or allow pollution of surface or subsurface water in the state.

(c) Exploratory wells. Any oil, gas, or geothermal resource well or well drilled for exploratory purposes shall be governed by the provisions of statewide or field rules which are applicable and pertain to the drilling, safety, casing, production, abandoning, and plugging of wells.

(d) Pollution control.

  (1) Prohibited disposal methods. Except for those disposal methods authorized for certain wastes by paragraph (3) of this subsection, subsection (e) of this section, or §3.98 of this title (relating to Standards for Management of Hazardous Oil and Gas Waste), or disposal methods required to be permitted pursuant to §3.9 of this title (relating to Disposal Wells) (Rule 9) or §3.46 of this title (relating to Fluid Injection into Productive Reservoirs) (Rule 46), no person may dispose of any oil and gas wastes by any method without obtaining a permit to dispose of such wastes. The disposal methods prohibited by this paragraph include, but are not limited to, the unpermitted discharge of oil field brines, geothermal resource waters, or other mineralized waters, or drilling fluids into any watercourse or drainageway, including any drainage ditch, dry creek, flowing creek, river, or any other body of surface water.

  (2) Prohibited pits. No person may maintain or use any pit for storage of oil or oil products. Except as authorized by this subsection, no person may maintain or use any pit for storage of oil field fluids, or for storage or disposal of oil and gas wastes, without obtaining a permit to maintain or use the pit. A person is not required to have a permit to use a pit if a receiver has such a permit, if the person complies with the terms of such permit while using the pit, and if the person has permission of the receiver to use the pit. The pits required by this paragraph to be permitted include, but are not limited to, the following types of pits: saltwater disposal pits; emergency saltwater storage pits; collecting pits; skimming pits; brine pits; brine mining pits; drilling fluid storage pits (other than mud circulation pits); drilling fluid disposal pits (other than reserve pits or slush pits); washout pits; and gas plant evaporation/retention pits. If a person maintains or uses a pit for storage of oil field fluids, or for storage or disposal of oil and gas wastes, and the use or maintenance of the pit is neither authorized by this subsection nor permitted, then the person maintaining or using the pit shall backfill and compact the pit in the time and manner required by the director. Prior to backfilling the pit, the person maintaining or using the pit shall, in a permitted manner or in a manner authorized by paragraph (3) of this subsection, dispose of all oil and gas wastes which are in the pit.

  (3) Authorized disposal methods.

    (A) Fresh water condensate. A person may, without a permit, dispose of fresh water which has been condensed from natural gas and collected at gas pipeline drips or gas compressor stations, provided the disposal is by a method other than disposal into surface water of the state.

    (B) Inert wastes. A person may, without a permit, dispose of inert and essentially insoluble oil and gas wastes including, but not limited to, concrete, glass, wood, and wire, provided the disposal is by a method other than disposal into surface water of the state.

    (C) Low chloride drilling fluid. A person may, without a permit, dispose of the following oil and gas wastes by landfarming, provided the wastes are disposed of on the same lease where they are generated, and provided the person has the written permission of the surface owner of the tract where landfarming will occur: water base drilling fluids with a chloride concentration of 3,000 milligrams per liter (mg/liter) or less; drill cuttings, sands, and silts obtained while using water base drilling fluids with a chloride concentration of 3,000 mg/liter or less; and wash water used for cleaning drill pipe and other equipment at the well site.

    (D) Other drilling fluid. A person may, without a permit, dispose of the following oil and gas wastes by burial, provided the wastes are disposed of at the same well site where they are generated: water base drilling fluid which had a chloride concentration in excess of 3,000 mg/liter but which have been dewatered; drill cuttings, sands, and silts obtained while using oil base drilling fluids or water base drilling fluids with a chloride concentration in excess of 3,000 mg/liter; and those drilling fluids and wastes allowed to be landfarmed without a permit.

    (E) Completion/workover pit wastes. A person may, without a permit, dispose of the following oil and gas wastes by burial in a completion/workover pit, provided the wastes have been dewatered, and provided the wastes are disposed of at the same well site where they are generated: spent completion fluids, workover fluids, and the materials cleaned out of the wellbore of a well being completed or worked over.

    (F) Contents of non-commercial fluid recycling pit. A person may, without a permit, dispose of the solids from a non-commercial fluid recycling pit by burial in the pit, provided the pit has been dewatered.

    (G) Effect on backfilling. A person's choice to dispose of a waste by methods authorized by this paragraph shall not extend the time allowed for backfilling any reserve pit, mud circulation pit, or completion/workover pit whose use or maintenance is authorized by paragraph (4) of this subsection.

  (4) Authorized pits. A person may, without a permit, maintain or use reserve pits, mud circulation pits, completion/workover pits, basic sediment pits, flare pits, fresh makeup water pits, fresh mining water pits, non-commercial fluid recycling pits, and water condensate pits on the following conditions.

    (A) Reserve pits and mud circulation pits. A person shall not deposit or cause to be deposited into a reserve pit or mud circulation pit any oil field fluids or oil and gas wastes, other than the following:

      (i) drilling fluids, whether fresh water base, saltwater base, or oil base;

      (ii) drill cuttings, sands, and silts separated from the circulating drilling fluids;

      (iii) wash water used for cleaning drill pipe and other equipment at the well site;

      (iv) drill stem test fluids; and

      (v) blowout preventer test fluids.

    (B) Completion/workover pits. A person shall not deposit or cause to be deposited into a completion/workover pit any oil field fluids or oil and gas wastes other than spent completion fluids, workover fluid, and the materials cleaned out of the wellbore of a well being completed or worked over.

Cont'd...

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